


Unimaginable

by floralknight



Category: TAZ Balance - Fandom, The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Forgiveness, Healing, Post-Canon, Sibling Bonding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-01
Updated: 2019-12-01
Packaged: 2021-02-26 22:07:25
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,086
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21626281
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/floralknight/pseuds/floralknight
Summary: What if Taako had finished counting down when he had aimed the umbrastaff at Lucretia?
Relationships: Lup & Taako (The Adventure Zone), The Director | Lucretia & Lup, The Director | Lucretia & Taako
Comments: 1
Kudos: 19





	Unimaginable

"Ten," Taako said, raising the umbrastaff at Lucretia with fury burning in his eyes.

Lup had been watching the entire scene unfold as her friends, her family, regained their memories. She finally knew what happened, why Taako didn't recognize her name in the wall, why they all interacted as if only just getting to know each other. A flash of anger had gone through her at first. However, as she realized why Lucretia did it, even if it hadn't been right, she knew she couldn't be mad at her. She was trying to protect them in her own way. She went through so much because she loved them. No matter what, Lucretia was family and Lup couldn't ever let her family get hurt. She screeched as Taako continued counting down and Magnus raised his sword alongside him, "What are you _doing_?!" 

Lup begged for him to listen to reason, but of course they couldn't hear her as she raised hell in her little chamber in the staff.

"Five!" Taako yelled as both Lucretia and Merle tried to reason with them. Lucretia never raised a hand at them, though. Of course she didn't. She could never bring herself to actually harm them.

Lup could feel the staff thrumming with power, barely contained as the time for its use drew near. She cried and screamed at the others, desperate for anybody to listen, "Somebody stop him!"

The lich cursed, unable to bear the thought of watching her brother kill someone so important to her. Tears fell down her cheeks and determination filled her as she gathered her strength. The lich placed her palms against the back wall of the chamber, where the magic was strongest. Lup braced herself as she heard Taako speak one last time, "One!"

And the world around her dissolved in a bright, fiery light.

Outside in the office, the umbrastaff in Taako's hands exploded. The force from the spell seemed to have gotten stuck, destroying the staff and instead being replaced by a wave of force that swept around the room and sent Taako flying through the air. A figure puffed into existence with a show of fireworks and flames that wove masterfully around the people in the room, keeping them out of harm's way. Suddenly Lup was there, phantasmal and resplendent as she turned to Taako with a trembling voice, "I couldn't let you hurt her."

* * *

Not long after the battle ended, Lup found Taako sitting under a tree. He stared out at the ruined battlefield where just the day before they fought for not only their lives but the lives of all in existence. His eyes looked hollow as if he wasn’t actually seeing anything in front of him. She startled him out of his trance, sitting next to him with a soft smile, "Hey, bro."

They talked for quite a while, making up for lost time. Taako told her stories of his adventures on the road as a chef. She told him what it was like being in the staff. They laughed, they cried, and they finally began to feel whole again. Hours had passed and the sun had begun setting when Lup finally asked the question that had been weighing on her mind the most, "Why did you try to hurt Lucretia?"

Taako stopped, the relaxed atmosphere quickly becoming tense, "She did something horrible. I didn’t know what else to do."

"Taako, she was trying to protect us," She said, "Even if it wasn't the right way. She did it because she loves us."

"She took you from me, Lup!" He snapped, face twisted up in rage. Barely contained agony simmered just below the surface as his voice trembled, "She took everything from me!"

"I was alone for a decade," He said, pain lacing his tone as he spoke through gritted teeth, "Sure I met people. I even had a friend, though he turned out to be a killer. Even then, I was alone. I thought that was how I had always been. Do you know what that does to someone?"

"Even when I had been brought on with Magnus and Merle, it had only been because we were her last option. She didn't want us to come back," Taako added on, "She was up here living just fine while the rest of us struggled!"

"You do realize it hurt her too right? She went through a lot. Look at what she lost in wonderland and the burdens she carried those long years. She struggled just as much, if not more than the rest of us. She didn't want to lose us. It might not have been right, but she was trying to save us," Lup paused for a moment, voice breaking when she spoke again, "It- it terrifies me to think about what would have happened to me if she hadn't sent you after the gauntlet. Even if it wasn't intentional, she saved me from that prison just as much as you did.”

“I guess I never thought about that,” Taako hummed. He kept his hardened look, though, as he continued, “That still doesn’t make what she did okay.”

“It didn’t, but Taako, Lucretia is and always will be part of our family,” Lup took a deep breath, “I’m not saying you have to forgive her right now or forget this ever happened. Watching you turn on her like that while I watched helplessly was one of the most terrifying moments I’ve ever experienced. Not only because I thought I would lose her, but because I would also lose you. That isn’t who you are, Taako. You have every right to be angry, but I know that under all of that fury, you still love her just as much as the rest of us do.”

Taako stayed silent. He didn’t have anything to add and even if he did, the tears in his eyes and the lump in his throat ensured that he wouldn’t be able to. Lup threw her arm around his shoulders and pulled him close, pressing her forehead against his, “We will all be okay, we just need time to heal. Luckily, we have the rest of our lives to do that. Together.”

Taako looked into his sister’s, honest, loving eyes and realized that she was right. They would be okay. For the first time since they left for Wonderland, he felt the tension bleed away from him as he relaxed into Lup’s embrace and let a watery, hopeful smile form on his face, “Yeah. Together.”

**Author's Note:**

> This fic was inspired by [this post](https://lovelyblupjeans.tumblr.com/post/188452853137/theheadcanonzone-taako-would-never-have-been) where you can see I couldn't stop myself and added on before deciding later that I wanted this as a full fic. To be honest I definitely was in tears when I finished it. Delving into Taako's healing process post canon is always interesting and of course Lup is always there for him. I just love them. I also think a lot about how Taako's is around Lucretia post canon and I like exploring the different ways it could go.
> 
> Anyway! Enough rambling! As always I hope you enjoyed! You can find me on [my twitter](https://twitter.com/lovelynakahara?s=09) , [my main tumblr](https://lovelynakahara.tumblr.com/) , and [my taz tumblr](https://lovelyblupjeans.tumblr.com/) . Comments and Kudos are always appreciated 💛


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